dB,

When you use tuned "traps" to suck up acoustic energy

There are a lot of issues with tuned traps that make them inappropriate for
smaller rooms. Not just booths, but bedroom sized control rooms too. The
biggest problem is that *all* rooms have peaks and nulls at *all* low
frequencies, not just those frequencies related to the room's dimensions.
Another problem is bass traps need to cover a large amount of surface. So if
you load up the room with traps tuned to match one or two dimensions, you
don't have space left to handle all the other frequencies that also need
attention.

thus making the tiny room "look" bigger aurally? Not a bad idea, really.


This is true for all absorption. For example, putting absorbers on the
ceiling over a drum set makes the ceiling appear to be much higher. If you
think about it, there's no difference between a ceiling that's fully
absorbent and one that's infinitely high. Either way, sound that goes up
does not come back down later as a reflection.

--Ethan